MAGDALEN ISLANDS, Que. — Federal officials are halting efforts to free large whales trapped in fishing gear following the recent death of a whale rescuer in New Brunswick.

Fisheries spokesman Vance Chow says the department is reviewing how it responds to whale entanglements and until that review is complete, it is pausing such efforts.

The move comes a day after an American agency said it was halting efforts to free large whales.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which responds to marine mammals in distress, said it was conducting its own review of emergency response protocols.

Joe Howlett was killed Monday after freeing a North Atlantic right whale that had been entangled in fishing gear near Shippagan, N.B.

Meanwhile, a group of wildlife veterinarians say several North Atlantic right whale carcasses found floating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent weeks showed signs of blunt trauma.

The Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative issued a statement Thursday saying two necropsies were performed earlier this week in the Magdalen Islands, and while one right whale carcass was too decomposed for a preliminary diagnosis, the second had marks of blunt trauma.